Madison Wisconsin's Estate Planning Blog

Hoarding is more than just being a bit messy (or buying a six-month supply of toilet paper): It is actually a mental disorder causing some people to have difficulty discarding items, regardless of their value, and to experience severe distress even at the thought of it. If you have been named as the personal representative of a relative’s estate and discover that the deceased person’s home is packed, floor to ceiling, with collections, clothing, old mail, books, and papers, what should you do?

1. First, consider carefully whether to accept the job. If you live in another city or have a busy job or many family responsibilities, you should think twice about administering a hoarder’s estate, as cleaning out the home, locating money and property, and getting it ready for transfer or sale are likely to involve a substantial amount of time and effort. If you have not yet been formally appointed as the personal representative of an estate, you can renounce the role by filling out a form and filing it in the probate court that will handle the case and notify the beneficiaries or heirs of the estate. If you already have accepted the role, you must petition the court for removal if you decide you do not want to fulfill the role.
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Are you feeling bogged down in a swamp of clutter, deadlines, and incomplete tasks? As we draw closer to the end of the year, make it your goal to do a few simple things over the course of a day or two that will result in increased productivity and peace of mind for 2020.

Many people love to spend part of their summer vacation at the beach, enjoying the ocean and sunshine. But there may be unseen dangers that are crucial for beachgoers to keep in mind: For example, the undertow is a current of water, often quite powerful, below the surface, that is moving away from shore when waves are approaching it. It can easily knock a smaller person off balance and could be dangerous for those who are not strong swimmers. As a result, it is very important to take steps to protect family members from this danger. Likewise, there are a number of dangers associated with failing to put a well-thought-out estate plan in place that could make your family members feel as though they are drowning if you were to pass away.
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The federal gift and estate tax exclusion is currently very high—$11.58 million for an individual and $23.16 million for a married couple in 2020. As a result, only very wealthy people currently need to be concerned that their estates will be taxable at the federal level, at least until 2026, when the increased exclusion amount is scheduled to return to the $5 million (adjusted for inflation) exclusion in place before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But even if you are not among those who currently need to plan to avoid federal estate tax liability, some states have their own estate tax and a few have an inheritance tax (there is no federal inheritance tax).
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Bankruptcy may be one of the last things on your mind when you are creating an estate plan. Fortunately, the number of bankruptcy filings have declined as the economy has improved, but there were still a whopping 969,397 bankruptcy filings during the period from June 30, 2018 to September 30, 2019. What happens to your estate if you file for bankruptcy protection, but die while still in bankruptcy? What if one of your beneficiaries is in bankruptcy or is likely to be soon?  None of us knows what the future holds, so these are important considerations that you should take into account in your estate planning, even if the possibility of bankruptcy seems far-fetched right now.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2017, there were 44.4 million foreign-born people living in the United States, 55% of whom were non-citizens. As a result, there are many occasions when a non-citizen may be the beneficiary of the estate of a U.S. citizen, for example, if the non-citizen immigrant married a U.S. citizen. There are no laws prohibiting this, though non-citizen spouses—regardless of whether they are in the U.S. legally or illegally—may be treated differently for estate and gift tax purposes.

If you are considering making a donation to a public charity, you are not limited to donating cash. Depending upon your financial situation, giving objectives, and the needs of the charitable organization, certain accounts or pieces of property may be better suited for donation to the charity.

There are many reasons why you may want to give to a charity: You may give because you believe strongly in a cause or organization, but it can also reduce your yearly income tax bill and remove value from your overall estate. If you are considering making a donation, but are unsure of how to proceed, we are here to help. Working closely with other members of your financial team, we can craft a plan utilizing the charitable planning strategies that will best help you achieve your goals.

The United States has experienced a surge in immigration since 1970, and there are now approximately 45 million foreign-born people living in the United States. Some of them have become U.S. citizens, but many non-citizens live in the United States as well. In 2019 alone, approximately 1,031,000 foreign nationals obtained lawful permanent resident status.^[1] It is not only permissible, but essential for those individuals, like U.S. citizens, to have estate plans in place. There are a number of special issues non-citizens may need to consider.

For most of us, every penny counts, so it is almost inconceivable that we could have lost track of any money or property. Regardless of how careful we are with our finances, it is possible for utility deposits, credit balances, unused gift certificates, banks accounts, and many more types of property or money to accidentally be forgotten or abandoned. In fact, across the country, there are billions of dollars in unclaimed property being held by the state and federal government. Fortunately, it is often possible to locate this property and obtain it. It is equally important for estate administrators or family members to look for unclaimed property when a loved one dies to be sure that all of his or her property is included in the estate and goes to the intended beneficiaries.